First Day for everything
by galleena
Summary: Arthur Weasley has just secured his first job in the Ministry for Magic. A heavy Molly stays at home and thinks about the possibilities it presents. Features a young Bill and Charlie. Rewritten to take out boo boos and typos and story sequence errors!


Part The First. 

**Arthur **

_**Misuse of muggle artefacts office; Arthur's first day.**_

Arthur nervously straightened his robes and smoothed his mop of red hair away from his face. His nose and chin displayed the pimples of youth and his bespectacled eyes moved swiftly as he tried to remember the way to his new office. He was lucky really, to get a job in the esteemed ministry for magic. And in his favourite hobby area too! It was his first intention, in his new role as first assistant to deputy head, to introduce 'Muggle Studies' as a subject in Hogwarts. Muggles never ceased to amaze him with their ingenious devices for living without magic.

The ministry was afraid of Voldemort's gang bewitching non-magical items to further Muggle torture. After much debate over stretched expenses they had decided to set up an office where people could report unusual activities and bring enchanted objects to be repaired. The test to see if a candidate was suitable for a job in the new centre involved handing him/her a torch, some batteries and telling them to make the torch work without using magic. Most candidates immediately whipped out their wands. Before Arthur the ministry had employed two people to work in a department designed for fifty and no one had managed to turn on the torch.

Then came Arthur Weasley; not only did he successfully put the batteries in he also told the interviewing board that if they changed the bulb and there would be a better chance of it lighting up. They hired him on the spot.

So here he was, standing outside the office at 8.30 on a normal Wednesday morning. Heart pounding in his throat, face and ears flushed pink he knocked quietly on the door. When nobody answered he tried the handle.

0-0-0

**Molly**

Molly Weasley stood relaxed in her kitchen, back to the wall and face towards the window. The view was beautiful this morning, she mused. Golden rays danced over the treetops and fell in patterns of light onto the unkempt lawns of her house. Here and there she could see the gnomes hitting each other and swinging out of shrubs. She smiled lightly; Bill, her three year old would be up in a few hours and she'd send him out to clear them off. Merlin's Beard, was he really three already? It felt like yesterday that Arthur and herself had first moved into their home.

'The Burrow' they called it. It had looked like a burrow when they first seen it. From the grassy verge of the hill it had almost been hidden to the eye and Molly had fallen in love with it. Previously a wealthy wizard had owned the land but Molly and Arthur had scraped together some money in their seventh-year at Hogwarts and paid a deposit. Several months after they finished their NEWT exams Molly had discovered that she was 'in the family way'. Initially distraught and afraid of what other people would think of her she proposed to Arthur and they moved into the old cowshed.

It was hard at first, looking after a baby and trying to put some shape to the house but somehow they had managed. The baby was three now, her youngest was nearly 18 months and she had another on the way. The house now had four rooms, three on the ground floor and one upstairs. Their patch of land grew food enough to live on when times got really hard. Arthur was virtually unemployable, having just managed to get his NEWTs and gaining no further qualifications. He had applied to everything from Gringotts to muggle toilet-cleaners in search of a job, any job. Molly hadn't dreamed of him getting one in the ministry itself. It was a job with opportunities; he could really go somewhere in the ministry. Molly smiled to herself again and wondered how he was getting along.

0-0-0

**Arthur **

The handle was stuck. Arthur tugged at it desperately, willing it to open (unlocking charms weren't his strong point). A disdainful presence lurked behind him and he turned to see a blonde man in his late-twenties watching him with a wicked gleam in his eye.

'It's enchanted; you have to know the password to get into work'

Arthur flushed very pink around his ears and turned away from the smirking Lucius Malfoy. He knew the man to be one of his distant relatives but they had never met before. Arthur struggled with the handle for another few seconds then drew out a long hairpin from his pocket and bent it magically so that it fit in the ordinary muggle lock. The door gave a loud clunk then swung open. With a brief and polite smile over his shoulder Arthur stepped inside and swiftly closed the door on Lucius. Leaning back and breathing deeply he looked around to take in the surroundings.

First thing he noticed was the expanse of space in the office. It was _massive._ A hundred or more desks lined the floor and thousands of items hung along the wall in suspended animation. Piles of scrolls afoot high lay on every desk yet there was a conspicuous lack of office workers attending them. The room was silent apart from a quiet clunk-clunk-clunk coming from behind a door near the back wall. Arthur trod cautiously down the aisle between the desks, careful not to disturb the piles of paper, and approached the noise apprehensively. This door swung open easily.

0-0-0

**Molly **

Molly sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea clutched between her two hands. Breakfast was cooking itself on the stove and a dishevelled cloth was wiping up the grease that spilled over. Bill was running around outside swatting a gnome with his toy broomstick, Charlie was chewing on Errol the owl's cage and Errol was looking very disgruntled. Molly missed Arthur's company. It was the first time in ages that they hadn't had breakfast together. She looked at her clock, forgetting momentarily that it didn't tell the time, and saw Bill's hand swing from 'home' to 'mortal peril'. Jogging outside she saw the gnomes gang up and jump on Bill. Resisting the urge to yell at him for picking one up she whipped out her wand and froze them all before they could do any real damage. Inside, Errol pecked Charlie reproachfully on the nose and he started bawling. Molly rolled her eyes. After this next kid she was having no more children.

0-0-0

**Arthur**

The clunking noise was much louder inside the private office. A bucket was banging menacingly against the side of the desk and a man, not too much older than Arthur, was perched on top of it. He looked surprised to see Arthur there.

'Oh hello' he said 'I wonder if you could help me, I'm in a bit of a fix. The bucket keeps trying to eat my feet. I've been calling for help for ages but we're quite isolated here and John isn't in yet'

John, Arthur presumed, was a co-worker (possibly manager?). The young man bumbled on.

'Anyway I can't stop it because I dropped my wand and it ate that too. So if you could maybe do a _finite_ charm I'd be very grateful.'

When the bucket was back in its place the young man climbed gratefully off the table, pulled his wand out of the pail and stretched out his hands to shake Arthur's.

'How do you do? I'm Jack, deputy head of Misuse of Muggle Artefacts department. Excuse the welcoming committee I'm afraid I wasn't expecting any new workers for another few days. If we'd known you were coming today then I'm sure John would have made it here on time.'

He glanced nervously at the bucket. And looked back at Arthur with some trepidation. Obviously he didn't want this John person to know about the incident. 'You won't tell…will you?'

Arthur shook his head, he wouldn't mention it (except to Molly later). He'd rather make a friend than a foe on his first day. Jack gave a sigh of relief.

'Oh, excellent! Phew! John would have had my guts for garters if he knew what had happened… not the first time that I've screwed up a little… Anyway I'm supposed to show you around…'

0-0-0

**Molly**

Once she had thrown the bag of Gnomes over the wall, unfrozen Bill and kissed Charlie's nose better Molly sat down to finish her now cold tea. The breakfast had scalded the pan so she set a brilo pad to work on it. Then, not feeling like cooking more, she poured out some cereal for them all. Bill ran up to the table covered in dirt and Charlie had managed to find and eat something blue. She wiped Charlie's mouth, sent Bill to wash his hands and then collapsed into her chair. Where was Arthur when she needed him?

0-0-0

**Arthur**

Arthur was, in fact, standing goggling at the mass of paperwork on his desk. He had moved it all over from the other tables onto his and it reached the roof several times over. Arthur felt faint. With a week and an assistant he could probably sort the room out, but alone? It wasn't quite the working environment he had envisioned for himself. He'd have to shelve his plans for Muggle Studies. Nevertheless he sat down and got to work, quickly sussing that the filing cabinets had never been used and that he could, in any case, devise his own system. This cheered him up slightly; at least he'd be doing something worthwhile with his time.

All in all it wasn't as bad as Arthur thought it would be. Most of the papers were submittal forms saying that people in possession of dangerously enchanted muggle objects could claim their property back once it had been examined and repaired. There were one or two prosecution notices (on green parchment instead of the usual lemon colour) and soon enough he had a self-sorting system devised.

Twenty minutes later there was a gap in the stacks. After two hours the entire desk was empty and Arthur sat back in his chair looking very pleased with himself. Jack came out of his office at twelve nursing a nasty looking cut on his forearm.

'Possessed ladder' he grunted. Then he did a double take and his mouth fell a little at the lack of paper piles on the desks.

'What?… How did?… You must have burned it.'

Arthur shook his head, the papers were all neatly stored in the system and he hadn't burned any of it.

'Disappearated it?

Another shake.

'You _filed_ it?

Arthur nodded, trying not to smile too broadly.

'I don't believe it mate, you're the best thing that ever happened to this place! C'mon and we'll go buy some lunch after I get my arm fixed.'

0-0-0

**Molly**

Molly's afternoon was as awful as her morning had been. Bill had been playing hide and peep with Charlie outside but had lost interest halfway through and wandered off towards the chickens. Charlie got lost in the long grass and started crying. Bill, afraid that he'd get into trouble with his mum, hid and Molly couldn't find him for ages. Eventually she saw his strawberry blonde hair through the thicket around the chicken coop but couldn't fit her belly through the small gap in the fence. Charlie was sprawled out fast asleep on the ironing with his mucky clothes dirtying them when she went back inside. Molly nearly cried. Instead she put on the kettle and made some tea reminding herself that someday Arthur would do well for them both and then they'd have a house elf. With that naive but peaceful thought on her mind she fell asleep.

0-0-0

**Arthur**

The canteen was thronged with wizards of all ages. It was funny, Arthur thought, that there were very few women around the place. He could see an auburn haired young woman sitting with a black haired man but other than that the lunch-hall was largely filled with wizards. Arthur pushed the thought aside and tried to concentrate on what Jack was saying 'yeah, there was a nasty case there a while back. Some kid bought a possessed rubber duck that started to attack him after it got wet. Luckily he had a witch relative who brought him to St. Mungos but he nearly lost an eye, I tell you it wasn't a pretty sight…'

For some reason Molly kept popping into Arthur's head and he wondered how she was. Perhaps after lunch he would buy some floo powder and pop his head into the fire.

0-0-0

**Molly**

Molly woke up quickly and knew that it wasn't just tea spilling down her lap. She felt a brief pain in her belly and groaned. Not now, it couldn't be. She wasn't due for another month at least. She had to get to St. Mungos to see what was wrong. Dragging herself from her chair and towards the fire-place she pulled out their emergency stash of floo-powder. Molly detested floo but appearating wasn't advisable for women more than three-months pregnant. Muttering several obscenities under her breath she roared at Percy and Bill and made to throw some powder into the fire when it turned green and Arthur's head appeared in the flames.

0-0-0

**Arthur**

Lunch went on for hours. By two o'clock his legs were numb from sitting for so long and by half past he excused himself under the pretext of calling home to his wife. As it turned out he didn't need to buy floo-powder because it was provided in the office (which was wonderful because it was so expensive in the apothecaries). Without thinking he put the entire supply into his pocket.

By the time he found a fireplace it was nearing three and Arthur was getting nervous. Maybe working here wasn't such a good idea. It exposed his family to danger and Arthur knew that Voldemort, being of pureblood descent, despised the blood-traitor Weaselys. When he saw the state Molly was in at home. He told her to relax and that he'd be there in a minute. Running to his office he grabbed floo-powder from other desks and stuffed the whole lot into a noticeable bulge in his top pocket. Turning to run back to the fireplace WHAM! Arthur ran straight into a man wearing a 'Head of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office' badge. It had to be John. Beside him stood the snide face of Lucius Malfoy

0-0-0

**Molly**

Molly could feel the start of the contractions, it would be a quick birth at least but Arthur still wasn't home. Bill and Charlie stood quietly by the fireplace watching the yellow flames. Arthur had been gone ten minutes now…

0-0-0

**Arthur **

Arthur discreetly moved his arm to conceal the floo-powder in his pocket and scrambled back to his feet. It wouldn't do to be seen stealing office supplies on the first day. The other man was much older than Arthur and surveyed him with a look of distain, dark eyes taking in shabby robes, mop of hair and crooked glasses. He had cold eyes and Arthur felt the shackles on the back of his neck rise, though he couldn't say why. Then John shook his head slowly. When he spoke it was in a hoarse voice;

'You'd better go mate. Your wife'll be having a flippin canary not a baby if you don't get 'ome soon'

Arthur looked at him in shock. How did he know?

'Call it premonition or mind-readin if you like, personally I've 'ad free kids and I know a man running to his wife when I see one. Go'n, I'll tell them why you're missin'

All Arthur could do as he ran out the door was yell a brief 'thanks' over his shoulder and wave. Obviously first impressions could be wrong. Behind him he heard John's fading voice say to Lucius,

'All the same those Weasleys; more babies than sense. Still he cud've knocked before he barged into me office and used the fireplace...'

0-0-0

**Molly**

Finally Arthur walked through the whirling green flames. He wordlessly pulled out the bag of floo-powder, grabbed one boy under each arm and stepped back into the fire.

'St. Mungo's'

They vanished in a flash and Molly looked down at the bag of floo-powder in her hand. She put it in the nearest flowerpot and covered it in soil before stepping into the fireplace and leaving too.

0-0-0

**Arthur**

_St.Mungo's Hospital; Maternity Ward_

It was a very quick birth. Molly looked exhausted but smiled a little. Perhaps today wasn't such a bad day after all. Arthur, on the other hand, was ecstatic. 'A Boy' he called to anyone who'd listen. Bald! Thought Molly almost hopefully, maybe the baby would inherit his hair colour from somebody who wasn't red-headed.

The minute perfectness of babies never ceased to amaze Arthur. Only six and a half pounds weight but this boy was built to be an Auror; he could see it in the tough little face. Molly was asleep and Bill and Charlie were in the playhouse on the ground floor. Arthur reflected on the day's events and thought it to have gone quite well really. Pulling the bedclothes up over Molly and gently placing baby Percy back into his plastic box he stood and went to rescue the crèche-workers from the nightmares of Bill and Charlie.

End Part One 


End file.
